Tag: corruption

UK electoral system “not corrupted, but certainly corruptible”, say observers

A team of Commonwealth Election Observers have released a report claiming that the UK electoral system is corruptible “and open to fraud.”

While believing the recent UK election was undertaken in a free and fair manner, this was a success based on “trust” rather than “controls and deterrents.”

The observers suggested improving the identification of voters at registration and polling stations, better verification of postal ballots to close certain loopholes, centralisation of electoral roll records to prevent multiple registrations in more than one constituency, and more staff at polling stations to ensure people can vote in a timely manner.

This last issue caused widespread condemnation following the day of the election, with thousands of voters queuing outside venues turned away when the ballot boxes closed at 10pm. Many people in London reported waiting in lines for several hours, with many office workers struggling to vote in time.

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PG sends Lale case to criminal court as principal resigns

The Prosecutor General’s Office will file a case against the Principal of Lale Youth International School, Serkan Akar, at the Criminal Court tomorrow morning.

Police confiscated Akar’s passport last Thursday after he attempted to flee the country, pending a police investigation into allegations of child abuse.

Deputy Principal Suleyman Atayev told Minivan News last week that Akar had a return ticket and was trying to escort two children to an Information Communications Technology (ICT) Olympiad when immigration stopped him at the airport, although staff at the school questioned why the principal had packed up his apartment.

Atayev said he was confident any allegations against the Principal would be proven false.

Deputy Prosecutor General Hussain Shameem said the PG’s office intended to prosecute Akar on charges of assault and battery, ensuring he remained in the country while police and the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) completed their investigations into other allegations.

“The case is proceeding and his passport is held, but we need to prosecute if want to hold it any longer,” Shameem explained. “We are still awaiting some documents relating to his passport,” he added.

The PG’s office had attempted to file the case today, he said, “but the criminal court has this odd thing where they only take the submission of cases between 10am to 11am. We will submit the case tomorrow.”

Deputy Minister for Education Dr Abdulla Nazeer told Minivan News today that Akar had resigned as principal of Lale, and Atayev had been appointed acting principal in his stead.

“The replacement principal has arrived but he is on a tourist visa and cannot start work until immigration issues him a work permit,” Dr Nazeer noted, adding that the company behind the school, Biz Atoll, “only has the quota for one principal.”

“My understanding is that Akar’s resignation automatically means the principal’s [quota] is vacant,” he said.

Nazeer said allegations against the principal were of an individual nature and not necessarily a reflection on Biz Atoll, although the agency is responsible for the agreement between the privately-run school and the Education Ministry.

Earlier this month the Minstry said it had amended the contract with Biz Atoll to require the departure of Akar and the appointment of an appropriately-qualified principal within a three month window, and inserted a termination clause.

“We are waiting for the HRCM report, and based on that evidence we may review the Biz Atoll contract,” Dr Nazeer said.

HRCM said the commission’s report on the school will be released next week.

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Presidential Commission member resigns over “political influences”

Presidential Commission member Idham Muizzu Adnan resigned from the commission yesterday, claiming a lack of transparency and impartiality.

The Presidential Commission is an independent body created by President Mohamed Nasheed in May 2009 to investigate corruption allegations in the country. The president was also responsible for appointing all of its members.

Spokesperson for the Presidential Commission, Abdulla Haseen, said the commission’s mandate was to investigate corruption cases, particularly targeting people accused of corruption under the previous regime.

However Adnan, who has worked with the commission since it was created, said he resigned because of “certain political influences” that were being imposed on the commission.

“I agree the president has the power to dictate [how the commission is run]… but he should do it in a reasonable and impartial manner,” Adnan said.

Adnan said sometimes the commission was pressured “not to call on certain people” when investigating a case, or was advised not to disclose certain information to the public.

“In decree, the commission is to function independently… [it] should not be used as a tool to protect people or attack opponents.”

Furthermore, “we should be allowed to disclose any information [we find],” he said, “because these corruption issues need to be investigated.”

Adnan said a press conference scheduled for yesterday evening was cancelled at the last minute on request from the President’s Office, which made him reconsider his position in the commission.

“I feel [the commission] cannot function in an impartial manner,” Adnan said.

Haseen confirmed Adnan’s resignation and said Adnan “is really concerned about transparency… he is not satisfied with our decision to postpone a press conference.”

Haseen confirmed the scheduled press conference was postponed “on the advice of the President’s Office.”

He said the commission gives press conferences “frequently” and this one was postponed “because the issue is quite controversial.”

The Presidential Commission is allowed to share information with the public, Haseen said, but “we have some limitations.”

Haseen explained that once the investigation of a case is completed by the commission, a press conference will normally be held before the registration report is sent to the police. The police then have to send it to the Prosecutor General’s office, who decide whether the case will be sent to court.

Although Haseen said the President’s Office “never intervenes with the process” of investigation, on this occasion, “Mr Adnan is not happy about it.”

Haseen said the commission regularly seeks the president’s advice, since “he appointed the commission, it is related to his advice,” and their investigations are always “cooperative.”

Haseen said the issue of the commission’s transparency was “nothing to worry about.”

Press Secretary for the President’s Office Mohamed Zuhair said President Nasheed expressed his regret about Adnan’s resignation, and thanked him for his sincerity and the legal advice he provided the commission.

Zuhair noted the President created the commission to strengthen the role of the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) and the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM), among other independent commissions

“The Presidential Commission is an auxiliary body to help police and other agencies at the front line of legal matters,” Zuhair said.

He said he believed Adnan “jumped the gun” with his resignation.

“He may have other assumptions [about the commission],” Zuhair said.

Zuhair said the press conference that was cancelled yesterday had originally been scheduled for Thursday, but the commission postponed it until Sunday “for their own reasons.”

He said the president then wrote a letter to the commission asking for the details of the press conference, “saying he should be informed of the key points to be made public.”

Zuhair said “it would not be the decent thing to do to go ahead with the press conference without giving the president the facts he wanted. It is the Presidential Commission. The president is the head of this body.”

He said the president “didn’t want to jeopardise the legal process” by revealing certain information before the case was made public and sent to the police. “The president wanted to know whether the commission had a water-tight case.”

But he assured “there was no order [made] to stop the press conference.”

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Parliament votes to dismiss Auditor General 43-28 in favour

Parliament today voted to dismiss Auditor General Ibrahim Naeem, with 43 voting in favour of the no-confidence motion and 28 against.

President Mohamed Nasheed was last night reported to be seeking to urgently meet with MPs, foregoing a function marking the close of the donor conference.

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Mohamed Shifaz said all the party’s MPs had voted against the no-confidence motion on Auditor General ”as it was a responsibility of the government to defend all its institutions, and we are on the government’s side.”

On the other side, MPs of the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party-People’s Alliance (DRP-PA) coalition were joined by seven independents, the two Dhivehi Qaumee Party MPs and the sole Republican Party representative.

Shifaz said he believed the Auditor General had not committed anything that warranted a no-confidence motion.

”DRP want to remove him from that position due to the reports he released, which accused many senior leaders of corruption including former president,” he said. ”They had personal issues with him.”

He claimed the parliament procedures need to be changed and there were many things to be corrected.

”The speaker has not revealed the Anti-Corruption Commissions report to MPs yet, because it contains things which accuse his own party’s members of corruption,” Shifaz claimed.

DRP MP Ahmed Ilham said it was now “very clear” that the Auditor General was corrupt.

”Independent MPs who always vote on MDP side voted on DRP side today,” Ilham said.

He said the government was trying to defend Naeem in many ways, “which proves that the government is promoting corruption in the country in the name of erasing it,” he said.

”MDP MPs forced the parliament to be canceled two days, and MDP activists disrupted the peace of the nation just to defend the Auditor General.”

Ilham said that if there was a credible corruption case against former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, “the government should not wait a single second before investigating those cases.”

”Those are just rumors they spread,” he said. “Why won’t the government go ahead and prove it to the people?”

Ilham said while people believed Naeem was independent as the Audit Office was a independent institution, ”that the government tried to defend him proves he was a man fully on MDP’s side.”

Naeem was appointed by Former President Gayoom and a DRP-majority Majlis.

What happened

The Auditor General was accused of corruption by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) for using the government’s money to buy a tie and visit Thulhaidhu in Baa Atoll.

Naeem claimed the charges were an attempt to discredit his office and prevent him from reclaiming the government’s money stored in overseas bank accounts.

“A lot of the government’s money was taken through corrupt [means] and saved in the banks of England, Switzerland, Singapore and Malaysia,” Naeem claimed two weeks ago, during his first press conference in eight months.

The motion to dismiss him was put forward by the parliamentary finance committee, chaired by Deputy Speaker Ahmed Nazim, who the previous week had pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to defraud the former ministry of atolls development while be was Managing Director of Namira Engineering and Trading Pvt Ltd.

Tension over the motion led to violent clashes inside parliament, which spread to supporters of both major parties outside the chamber. Police were forced to use tear gas on several occasions over the weekend to subdue crowds of violent demonstrators.

Press Secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair claimed the DRP were trying to remove Naeem because he had accused the party’s senior leaders of corruption during their administration.

”They are intending to spread doubt among the people, and they think it will be easier to defend themselves if the Auditor General is dismissed,” Zuhair said.

The dismissal of the Auditor General would “not be a big loss” to the government’s attempts to recover the money, ”as there are many professional accountants in the Audit Office”, Zuhair said.

He said all the political benefits being attributed to the no-confidence motion on Auditor General were due the government, ”as [Naeem] was elected by a majority of DRP MPs.”

The dismissal of the Auditor General is unlikely to slow the government’s appetite for reclaiming state funds it believes are stashed overseas.

Today during the closure of Donor Conference, President Mohamed Nasheed confirmed that a “stolen asset recovery program is part-and-parcel of the World Bank projects.”

“We are a member of that program and will of course be working within the framework available to us,” he said.

“If there are any stolen assets I’m sure we will be able to identify them, and if they are ill-gotten I sure we will we will be able to repatriate them.”

There was “no timeline”, the President added.

The Stolen Asset Recovery program (StAR) is a 2007 joint initiative between the World Bank and the UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which according to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, “fosters much needed cooperation between developed and developing countries and between the public and private sectors to ensure that looted assets are returned to their rightful owners.”

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Parliament paralysed by punch-up pandemonium

Parliament was cancelled today by Speaker Abdulla Shahid, after DRP MP Ahmed Mahlouf reportedly approached MDP MP Alhan Fahmy, tapped him on the shoulder and informed him he was sitting in a DRP seat.

MPs from the major parties leapt to the defence of their respective party members, and the chamber quickly degenerated into a brawl.

Fahmy recently switched to the MDP from the DRP after being suspended from the DRP for voting against the party on the issue of a no-confidence motion against foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed. Mahlouf was particularly vocal regarding Fahmy’s decision to cross the floor, at one stage describing the MP for Seenu Feydhoo as a “political prostitute”.

After the battle, MPs were displaying their injuries to journalists outside parliament.

“They tried to attack us by force, try to create fear in the chamber. We are not afraid of them,” said DRP MP Ali Waheed, sporting a bandaged wrist. He would not say who attacked him, but said “everyone came after me because I am the tallest MP around.”

Mahlouf, he claimed, was punched in the lips.

“We are ready to fight back. As deputy leader of the party, my duty is to defend my party members,” Waheed said.

Staff at ADK hospital confirmed that MDP MP Shifaq Mufeed had been discharged after he was allegedly punched in the eye. Waheed, however, maintained that Mufeed’s injury was the product of make-up applied by MDP parliamentary group leader ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik, a former movie star.

“We have a video of him without any damage before he went into the office of the MDP parliamentary group leader,” Waheed said, “and with a lot of injuries to his face afterwards. Reeko is a former movie star, and I congratulate him on the high quality of his make-up skills.”

Neither Fahmy or Mahlouf were responding to calls at time of press.

Stop the session

The chamber erupted during a debate on the report submitted by parliamentary finance committee calling for the dismissal of the Auditor General over charges of corruption.

The charges were made in a letter sent to the committee by former Anti-Corruption Commission member Hassan Luthfy.

“[MDP] disrupts parliament if there is anything not to their pleasure,” said Ahmed Nazim, deputy speaker and chairman of the finance committee.

“This will bring parliament to a total standstill, because the DRP will not back down on this one, and we cannot submit another committee report until we have concluded this one because they go in sequence.”

Mahlouf’s behaviour towards Fahmy “was probably uncalled for”, he said, “but the MDP members were protesting and not allowing anyone to talk. Mahlouf went up and told him he was talking from ‘one of our seats’.”

Nazim is himself no stranger to charges of corruption, recently pleading not guilty when charged with conspiracy to defraud the former ministry of atolls development.

At a press conference in August last year, Chief Inspector Ismail Atheef said police had uncovered evidence implicated the former Atolls Minister Abdullah Hameed, Eydhafushi MP Ahmed “Redwave” Saleem, former director of finance at the ministry, and Nazim in fraudulent transactions worth over US$260,000 (Mf 3,446,950).

Meanwhile, Auditor General Ibrahim Naeem told the press on Sunday that the charges against him, which have now been forwarded to the Prosecutor General’s office, were “made by people attempting to harm [my] office because we are trying to bring all the [stolen] money back into the country.”

However Nazim said the committee’s four members were unanimous that the Auditor General was guilty and called for his dismissal.

MDP MP Ahmed Easa said the party’s concern was not the corruption case against the Auditor General, “but a procedural issue.”

“Nazim did not get the approval of the committee,” he said, claiming that key MDP members of the committee received text messages from parliamentary staff informing them that the meeting at which the findings of the sub-committee was discussed had been cancelled.

“Staff are informed by the chairman,” he said.

At today’s sitting, Hinnavaru MP Ibrahim Mohamed Solih said the committee had not “completed the process” in compiling its report.

Solih said the letter from Luthfy in June last year was never officially entered in the Majlis records and parts of its annex were missing when the committee first set down to deliberate.

Moreover, said Solih, when the committee later decided to summon the Auditor General and members of the Anti-Corruption Commission, DRP MP Abdullah Abdul Raheem withdrew his motion to recommend a no-confidence vote.

Nazim however claimed that the report had been submitted according to new rules of procedure, and that MDP’s response was a cynical attempt to disrupt the chamber so no vote could be taken.

The situation is unlikely to unravel soon, and already text messages calling for rallies and protests have begun circulating. Groups of MDP activists engaged in a running protest this afternoon around parliament, pursued by police, scenes likely to continue as parliament tries to resolve its deadlock tomorrow.

“It was sad to see such pictures in parliament,” noted Ali Waheed. “But we are ready to get dirty if that is what it takes to clear this mess.”

Web of corruption: the story so far

At a DRP rally last night, MP Ahmed Nihan pledged that the Auditor General would be removed from his post and would have to “pack his belongings” before 2.30pm.

Meanwhile, at an MDP rally, ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik called on party members to protest outside independent commissions to demand action against senior officials of the former regime accused of corruption, gross misappropriation and embezzlement.

He added it would take months to summon all complicit to court as they included the former president’s family, in-laws and associates.

“It would take more than 48 hours to read the verdict against even one of them because of all their theft,” he said.

The debate over the past two sittings proceeded intermittently as MDP MPs continually raised points of order claiming procedural violations and irregularities in the compilation of the report.

However, the Speaker ruled that as the case had not yet reached court, he had to table the report in the agenda.

Maafanu West MP Abdullah Abdul Raheem, who originally proposed the motion of no-confidence, accused MDP MPs of trying to “sabotage” the sitting and prevent the vote.

Presenting the report yesterday, Nazim said a sub-committee was formed to investigate the allegations against the Auditor General in a letter sent by former ACC member Hassan Luthfy.

The committee confirmed that the allegations in the letter were based on a report compiled by the ACC in June 2009 after reviewing financial records and documents at the Auditor General’s Office, he said.

There were four main allegations against Naeem: forging receipts to show that he paid for a trip to Baa atoll Thulhaadhoo; using office credit cards for personal purchases; purchasing health insurance through the office although it was included in his salary; and creating a “slush fund” of Rf6 million from the office budget for personal expenses.

After the subcommittee submitted its findings, Nazim continued, two motions were forwarded.

While MDP MP Ibrahim Mohamed Solih proposed summoning the auditor general, DRP MP Abdullah Abdul Raheem proposed a motion that the committee should recommend a vote of no-confidence.

Article 218 of the constitution states the Auditor General can be removed on the grounds of misconduct, incapacity or incompetence if “a finding to that effect by a committee of the People’s Majlis […] and upon the approval of such finding by the People’s Majlis by a majority of those present and voting.”

Although Raheem later withdrew his motion, Nazim said it was done after the committee voted to pass it.

“Therefore, Abdullah Abdul Raheem’s claim that he took it back is a definite falsehood. It is misleading. It is being done by people who don’t want this to go ahead and wants to keep the auditor general in his post,” said Nazim.

Nazim was shouted down by MDP MPs who raised points of order, left their seats and engaged in acrimonious arguments with opposition MPs.

Nazim said Naeem wrote to the Bank of Maldives himself to get a Visa Credit Card and an American Express Credit Card, both with credit limits of US$10,000.

Although Naeem himself wrote the offices’ operating manual, said Nazim, the auditor general used both cards for personal use without reimbursing the office 14 months after the expenses.

The subcommittee found that Naeem spent Rf91,000 from the Visa Card and Rf422,000 from the American Express Card.

Further, Nazim said Naeem transferred Rf6 million from the office account at the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) to a BML account for personal use.

But, he added, the finance committee had ordered the account to be closed when it finalized the state budget for 2010.

Naeem’s actions were in violation of several provisions of the state’s finance and asset regulations, he said.

Further, the ACC had noted that a Sony VIAO laptop Naeem purchased in Singapore was paid for by the office and import duties were not paid.

Nazim concluded by proposing the motion approved by the committee to call a vote of no-confidence.

In the ensuing debate, MDP MPs said the report was intended to discredit Naeem and the audit reports he issued that alleged rampant corruption under the former government.

DRP MP Ahmed Nihan meanwhile observed that Naeem showed up first in Google searches for “corrupt auditor general”.

Naeem was nominated by former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and approved by a DRP-dominated Majlis.

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ACC charges an attempt to stop recovery of stolen millions, says Auditor General

The Auditor General Ibrahim Naeem today responded to charges of corruption put against him by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), claiming the case was an attempt to discredit his office and prevent him from reclaiming the government’s money stored in overseas bank accounts.

The ACC has forwarded two cases concerning Naeem to the Prosecutor General’s Office, alleging that Naeem used an official credit card to purchase personal items and fund a private visit to the island of Thulhadhoo in Baa Atoll.

“A lot of the government’s money was taken through corrupt [means] and saved in the banks of England, Switzerland, Singapore and Malaysia,” Naeem claimed, during a terse press conference.

”There are houses and assets of the government saved in those countries,” he said, ”and there is the government’s money stored in personal accounts.”

The ACC’s cases against him were, he said, made by people “attempting to harm [my] office because we are trying to bring all this money back to the country.”

He pledged he would “bring all the money back within the year.”

Press Secretary for the President’s Office Mohamed Zuhair observed that Naeem was being accused of defrauding the government of a “comparably negligible amount of money compared to the millions he’s exposing. It’s not surprising he has powerful enemies.”

The first allegation of making personal purchases was a mix-up between a personal and a corporate credit card, Zuhair claimed. “He bought a tie and later paid when he realised his mistake.”

The second claim, that Naeem had used government money to chartered a boat to Baa Atoll for person reasons, was met with scorn by the Auditor General.

“It was not a personal trip. Neither the parliament nor the president can decide whether my visits are official or personal,” he said.

Zuhair said he expected the Prosecutor General would now send the case to court where the Auditor General would most likely absolve himself of the charges.

“The fact that parliament is already considering a no-confidence motion probably amounts to legal double-jeopardy,” Zuhair noted.

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Comment & Analysis: Corruption, your ‘no’ counts

Corruption has a devastating effect on democratic governance and economic development all over the world.

The problem is global and no country in the world could possibly claim to be immune against any of the various forms in which corruption manifests itself. Yet, it is of particular concern in the developing world, as huge amounts of money and resources are diverted through corruption away from what it should serve: socio-economic development, justice and security.

And it is a particular concern to South Asia, which is home to one-fifth of the world population and where countries face enormous challenges of sustainably alleviating poverty for millions of people and of meeting the universally agreed upon Millennium Development Goals in less than six years from now.

Corruption, not culture

Often, people believe that they are at the mercy of corruption or even that paying a bribe just belongs to a way of life or a culture in a given society and that this cannot be changed. Although corruption is mostly unanimously considered as ethically unacceptable, it seems that only few are able to visualize and understand the long term harmful consequences of corruption for development and the society. It is perhaps, therefore, that skepticism with regard to the benefits of a zero tolerance approach, have remained for a long time.

This is now gradually changing. In 2003, the world community marked a historic milestone by adopting the United Nations Convention against Corruption, the first ever universal instrument against corruption.

Two years later, it entered into force and today, we can report that 142 countries have ratified the Convention. Through this Convention, Governments have now universally agreed upon and accepted comprehensive standards and measures to criminalise and prevent a variety of forms of corrupt practices, such as bribery of public officials, both national and international, embezzlement of funds, trading in influence, abuse of functions, illicit enrichment, laundering of the proceeds of crime and obstruction of justice.

Equally important, State Parties to the Convention have committed themselves to implement appropriate measures for asset recovery, also across borders, and international cooperation in view of the transnational character of organized criminal activities, such as drug and arms trafficking.

UN-logoWhereas the Convention has been signed and ratified by Governments, it does not limit itself to entrusting measures for the public sphere. It also proposes concrete measures to be taken both by the private sector and the civil society. For example, the Convention specifically mandates the private sector to establish a code of conduct for the prevention of conflicts of interest, internal auditing controls as well as proper commercial practices.

Equally, the civil society is called upon to create awareness and undertake public information and education programmes to promote transparency, integrity and non-tolerance of corruption.

Since entering into force, the State Parties to the United Nations Convention have met regularly to discuss progress in the implementation of the Convention. In the last meeting held in Doha in early November, States have made a breakthrough by agreeing to a new mechanism, under which they will monitor every five years to see how they are living up to their obligations under the Convention.

The strength of the monitoring mechanism is that it is based on self-assessments and peer reviews and that information will be made public.

Time has come to be judged by action taken and not by promises made. The “your no counts” campaign which was brought to live to harness people’s support for anti-corruption in the spirit of the Convention, also calls on you to stand up for integrity and take action against corruption.

Cristina Albertin is the UN representative for the Office on Drugs and Crime in South Asia.

All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]

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